[bug #57282] Multiple Linux (Debian/Ubuntu 2018/2019, CentOS, Fedora) grub2 2.04 Installation and Booting Problems

[Thomas Poetter]

URL:
  <https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?57282>

                 Summary: Multiple Linux (Debian/Ubuntu 2018/2019, CentOS,
Fedora) grub2 2.04 Installation and Booting Problems
                 Project: GNU GRUB
            Submitted by: thomaspoetter
            Submitted on: Wed 20 Nov 2019 10:23:07 PM UTC
                Category: Booting
                Severity: Major
                Priority: 5 - Normal
              Item Group: Software Error
                  Status: None
                 Privacy: Public
             Assigned to: None
         Originator Name: 
        Originator Email: 
             Open/Closed: Open
         Discussion Lock: Any
                 Release: 
                 Release: Git master
         Reproducibility: Intermittent
         Planned Release: None

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Details:

First, I have some strategic questions:

 1. The Ubuntu installers automatically invoke grub-install in UEFI mode on
UEFI hardware, even if I want to install grub2 on an external SSD. Can I avoid
this, i.e. use the legacy BIOS/MBR-mode grub2 booting? In my case, Ubuntu
2019.04 installed itself on an external SSD in MBR mode on an UEFI laptop and
pointed the EFI partition to Windows’ GPT EFI partition (/dev/sdb1) so that
I can only boot Ubuntu on that same laptop or on PCs with the same Windows GPT
EFI partition.
 2. Can grub2 cope flawlessly with MBR partition tables that were converted by
gdisk to GPT and for which no space was reseved for EFI or grub2 partitions?
Is it required to move existing partitions to make space for UEFI or grub2
partitions at the beginning of the disk?
How can I tell grub2 to copy to an (external) SSD disk the contents of a
Windows UEFI partition in an adapted form so it can boot in standalone boot as
external SSD on a different PC/Laptop without Windows? Copying the partition
with cp, tar or dd and calling grub-install did not work for me so far –
resulting in the errors below. Must the flag --removable be used for an SSD?
 3. Ideally, I would like to create a multi-boot system with Windows 10 and
different Linux variants – all bootable by grub2. How do I do this to run as
smoothly as possible?

  a) What should I do before installing Windows 10? Should I create a small
GPT partition for grub2 and mark it as such? Should I create different EFI
partitions, e.g. for Windows and the different Linux variants?

 b)     Should I install Windows 10 before any Linux or vice versa?

 c)     Is it possible to put an EFI partition into the logical partition space 
on
an MBR SSD, e.g. as /dev/sda5?

 d)     Must an EFI partition or a small GPT partition for grub2 be the first 
one
on the disk/SSD (as some contradictory sources claim)?

 e)     Is there an easy way to integrate a /boot partition back into the main
Linux installation and telling grub2 about it? I figure that the hard way –
once the grub2 install works – is to adapt the grub.cfg file accordingly and
copying the files together into one partition.


I’m trying to repair a broken grub2 boot in /dev/sdb with any of the recent
Ubuntu versions: I prepared these statements:
Configuration: /boot = /dev/sdb1, / = /dev/sdb3, UEFI = /dev/sdb4 (is created
by this script)

    sudo fdisk  /dev/sdb # possibly convert to GPT; create partition 4 of type
EFI: code ef
    sudo gdisk  /dev/sdb # create partition 4 of type EFI: code ef00
    sudo partprobe
    sudo mkdir -p /tmp/lin1/mnt/boot
    sudo mount -o nouuid /dev/sdb3 /tmp/lin1 
    sudo mount -o nouuid /dev/sdb1 /tmp/lin1/boot
    sudo mkdir /tmp/lin1/mnt/boot
    sudo mkfs.fat  /dev/sdb4
    sudo mkdir -p /tmp/lin1/mnt/efi
    sudo mount -o nouuid /dev/sdb4  /tmp/lin1/mnt/efi
    sudo mount -o nouuid /dev/sdb1  /tmp/lin1/boot
    sudo bash -c 'for i in /dev /dev/pts /proc /sys /run
/sys/firmware/efi/efivars /bin /usr /var /etc; do mkdir -p  /tmp/lin1$i;
done'
    sudo bash -c 'for i in /dev /dev/pts /proc /sys /run
/sys/firmware/efi/efivars /bin /usr /var /etc; do mount -o nouuid -B $i
/tmp/lin1$i; done'
    sudo chroot  /tmp/lin1/
    sudo grub-install --efi-directory=/tmp/lin1/mnt/efi
--boot-directory=/tmp/lin1/boot --target=x86_64-efi /dev/sdb
    sudo bash -c 'for i in /dev /dev/pts /proc /sys /run
/sys/firmware/efi/efivars /bin /usr /var /etc; do umount  /tmp/lin1$i; done'
    sudo umount /tmp/lin1/mnt/boot 
    sudo umount /tmp/lin1/boot 
    sudo umount /tmp/lin1/
    sudo sync
    sudo hdparm -Y /dev/sdb

I run into these 7 problems (these problems all occur occasionally after
pretty much the same grub-install as shown above, depending on host system,
Ubuntu version, additional Windows10 UEFI partition present and if the SSD is
connected internally or externally):

 1. At boot time: a start job is running for /dev/disk/by-uuid/…. (also
    after adapting the block ids in /etc/fstab)
    
 2. Ubuntu systemd: Received SIGRTMIN+20 from PID (plymouthd)**

 3. Ubuntu kernel: ucsi_ccg 0-0008: failed to reset PPM!
 4. Ubuntu kernel: ucsi_ccg 0-0008: PPM init failed (-110)
 5. Grub: error: file ‘/grub2/i386-pc/normal.mod’ not found  - Entering
rescue mode (the normal Ubuntu 2019.04 x64 EFI install
    directory is /grub/x86_64-efi)
 6. Grub boot:**

    Dependency failed for File System Check on /dev/disk/by-uuid/CA82-D0E8
    Dependency failed for /boot/efi

 7. chroot: failed to run command ‘/usr/bin/bash’: No such file or
directory:

Problematic Part:

    soc1@soc1-MS-7B17:/bin$ sudo chroot /tmp/lin1/ /usr/bin/bash
    chroot: failed to run command ‘/usr/bin/bash’: No such file or
directory
    soc1@soc1-MS-7B17:/bin$ ll /usr/bin/bash
    -rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 1113504 Nov 20 20:00 /usr/bin/bash*
    soc1@soc1-MS-7B17:/bin$ ll /bin/bash
    -rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 1113504 Jun 7 00:28 /bin/bash*


Diagnostic output:
     

    soc1@soc1-MS-7B17:/bin$ strace -f chroot /tmp/lin1 /usr/bin/bash 2>&1
    execve("/usr/sbin/chroot", ["chroot", "/tmp/lin1", "/usr/bin/bash"],
0x7fffe4c6c0f8 /* 62 vars */) = 0
    brk(NULL) = 0x558749ead000
    access("/etc/ld.so.nohwcap", F_OK) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or
directory)
    access("/etc/ld.so.preload", R_OK) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or
directory)
    openat(AT_FDCWD, "/etc/ld.so.cache", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3
    fstat(3, {st_mode=S_IFREG|0644, st_size=74469, ...}) = 0
    mmap(NULL, 74469, PROT_READ, MAP_PRIVATE, 3, 0) = 0x7fdf1d749000
    close(3) = 0
    access("/etc/ld.so.nohwcap", F_OK) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or
directory)
    openat(AT_FDCWD, "/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) =
3
    read(3,
"\177ELF\2\1\1\3\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\3\0>\0\1\0\0\0\260\34\2\0\0\0\0\0"..., 832) =
832
    fstat(3, {st_mode=S_IFREG|0755, st_size=2030544, ...}) = 0
    mmap(NULL, 8192, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_ANONYMOUS, -1, 0) =
0x7fdf1d747000
    mmap(NULL, 4131552, PROT_READ|PROT_EXEC, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_DENYWRITE, 3, 0)
= 0x7fdf1d144000
    mprotect(0x7fdf1d32b000, 2097152, PROT_NONE) = 0
    mmap(0x7fdf1d52b000, 24576, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE,
MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_FIXED|MAP_DENYWRITE, 3, 0x1e7000) = 0x7fdf1d52b000
    mmap(0x7fdf1d531000, 15072, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE,
MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_FIXED|MAP_ANONYMOUS, -1, 0) = 0x7fdf1d531000
    close(3) = 0
    arch_prctl(ARCH_SET_FS, 0x7fdf1d748540) = 0
    mprotect(0x7fdf1d52b000, 16384, PROT_READ) = 0
    mprotect(0x55874974a000, 4096, PROT_READ) = 0
    mprotect(0x7fdf1d75c000, 4096, PROT_READ) = 0
    munmap(0x7fdf1d749000, 74469) = 0
    brk(NULL) = 0x558749ead000
    brk(0x558749ece000) = 0x558749ece000
    openat(AT_FDCWD, "/usr/lib/locale/locale-archive", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) =
3
    fstat(3, {st_mode=S_IFREG|0644, st_size=10281936, ...}) = 0
    mmap(NULL, 10281936, PROT_READ, MAP_PRIVATE, 3, 0) = 0x7fdf1c775000
    close(3) = 0
    lstat("/tmp", {st_mode=S_IFDIR|S_ISVTX|0777, st_size=4096, ...}) = 0
    lstat("/tmp/lin1", {st_mode=S_IFDIR|0755, st_size=4096, ...}) = 0
    chroot("/tmp/lin1") = -1 EPERM (Operation not permitted)
    openat(AT_FDCWD, "/usr/share/locale/locale.alias", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) =
3
    fstat(3, {st_mode=S_IFREG|0644, st_size=2995, ...}) = 0
    read(3, "# Locale name alias data base.\n#"..., 4096) = 2995
    read(3, "", 4096) = 0
    close(3) = 0
    openat(AT_FDCWD, "/usr/share/locale/en_US.UTF-8/LC_MESSAGES/coreutils.mo",
O_RDONLY) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
    openat(AT_FDCWD, "/usr/share/locale/en_US.utf8/LC_MESSAGES/coreutils.mo",
O_RDONLY) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
    openat(AT_FDCWD, "/usr/share/locale/en_US/LC_MESSAGES/coreutils.mo",
O_RDONLY) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
    openat(AT_FDCWD, "/usr/share/locale/en.UTF-8/LC_MESSAGES/coreutils.mo",
O_RDONLY) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
    openat(AT_FDCWD, "/usr/share/locale/en.utf8/LC_MESSAGES/coreutils.mo",
O_RDONLY) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
    openat(AT_FDCWD, "/usr/share/locale/en/LC_MESSAGES/coreutils.mo",
O_RDONLY) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
    openat(AT_FDCWD,
"/usr/share/locale-langpack/en_US.UTF-8/LC_MESSAGES/coreutils.mo", O_RDONLY) =
-1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
    openat(AT_FDCWD,
"/usr/share/locale-langpack/en_US.utf8/LC_MESSAGES/coreutils.mo", O_RDONLY) =
-1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
    openat(AT_FDCWD,
"/usr/share/locale-langpack/en_US/LC_MESSAGES/coreutils.mo", O_RDONLY) = -1
ENOENT (No such file or directory)
    openat(AT_FDCWD,
"/usr/share/locale-langpack/en.UTF-8/LC_MESSAGES/coreutils.mo", O_RDONLY) = -1
ENOENT (No such file or directory)
    openat(AT_FDCWD,
"/usr/share/locale-langpack/en.utf8/LC_MESSAGES/coreutils.mo", O_RDONLY) = -1
ENOENT (No such file or directory)
    openat(AT_FDCWD, "/usr/share/locale-langpack/en/LC_MESSAGES/coreutils.mo",
O_RDONLY) = 3
    fstat(3, {st_mode=S_IFREG|0644, st_size=578, ...}) = 0
    mmap(NULL, 578, PROT_READ, MAP_PRIVATE, 3, 0) = 0x7fdf1d75b000
    close(3) = 0
    write(2, "chroot: ", 8chroot: ) = 8
    write(2, "cannot change root directory to "..., 43cannot change root
directory to '/tmp/lin1') = 43
    openat(AT_FDCWD, "/usr/share/locale/en_US.UTF-8/LC_MESSAGES/libc.mo",
O_RDONLY) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
    openat(AT_FDCWD, "/usr/share/locale/en_US.utf8/LC_MESSAGES/libc.mo",
O_RDONLY) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
    openat(AT_FDCWD, "/usr/share/locale/en_US/LC_MESSAGES/libc.mo", O_RDONLY)
= -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
    openat(AT_FDCWD, "/usr/share/locale/en.UTF-8/LC_MESSAGES/libc.mo",
O_RDONLY) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
    openat(AT_FDCWD, "/usr/share/locale/en.utf8/LC_MESSAGES/libc.mo",
O_RDONLY) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
    openat(AT_FDCWD, "/usr/share/locale/en/LC_MESSAGES/libc.mo", O_RDONLY) =
-1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
    openat(AT_FDCWD,
"/usr/share/locale-langpack/en_US.UTF-8/LC_MESSAGES/libc.mo", O_RDONLY) = -1
ENOENT (No such file or directory)
    openat(AT_FDCWD,
"/usr/share/locale-langpack/en_US.utf8/LC_MESSAGES/libc.mo", O_RDONLY) = -1
ENOENT (No such file or directory)
    openat(AT_FDCWD, "/usr/share/locale-langpack/en_US/LC_MESSAGES/libc.mo",
O_RDONLY) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
    openat(AT_FDCWD,
"/usr/share/locale-langpack/en.UTF-8/LC_MESSAGES/libc.mo", O_RDONLY) = -1
ENOENT (No such file or directory)
    openat(AT_FDCWD, "/usr/share/locale-langpack/en.utf8/LC_MESSAGES/libc.mo",
O_RDONLY) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
    openat(AT_FDCWD, "/usr/share/locale-langpack/en/LC_MESSAGES/libc.mo",
O_RDONLY) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
    write(2, ": Operation not permitted", 25: Operation not permitted) = 25
    write(2, "\n", 1
    ) = 1
    close(1) = 0
    close(2) = 0
    exit_group(125) = ?
    +++ exited with 125 +++





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